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COLD OPEN DELUXE ✦ Nº 04 / 20
The Door to Hell That Has Burned for 50 Years
Engineers set a collapsed gas crater on fire expecting it to burn out in weeks. It's still burning.
Wikimedia Commons · Tormod Sandtorv · CC BY-SA 2.0
THE KARAKUM DESERT, TURKMENISTAN
A crater of fire in the middle of nowhere
Out in the desert sits a pit roughly 230 feet across, filled with flames that never go out. At night the glow is visible for miles. It has one very appropriate nickname: the Door to Hell.
Wikimedia Commons · Tormod Sandtorv · CC BY-SA 2.0
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HOW IT STARTED
The ground collapsed
The most-told account: in 1971, Soviet engineers drilling for gas caused the ground to collapse into a huge crater, which began leaking methane. Worried about poisonous gas, they made a fateful decision.
Wikimedia Commons · JPSS imagery: CSU/CIRA & NOAA/NESDIS · Public domain
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THE DECISION
'Just set it on fire. It'll burn out in a few weeks.'
To stop the methane from spreading, they lit the crater, expecting the gas to burn off quickly and the fire to die within days or weeks. It was a reasonable guess. It was also very, very wrong.
THE MISCALCULATION
50+
YEARS THE FIRE HAS BURNED NONSTOP
Half a century later, still lit
The gas reserve was far larger than anyone realized. Decade after decade, the crater has kept burning — a permanent bonfire fed by the Earth itself, with no clear end in sight.
WHY IT ENDURES
An accidental landmark
A drilling mistake became a destination.
THE FUEL
A vast underground natural-gas field
THE GLOW
Visible for miles across the desert at night
THE FAME
A magnet for tourists and photographers
THE FUTURE
Officials have talked about putting it out
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THE POINT
'It'll burn out in a few weeks' aged very badly.
A short-term fix, made under pressure with incomplete information, turned into a 50-year phenomenon. Some quick decisions echo for a very long time.
THE RECEIPTS · THIS REALLY HAPPENED
Look it up yourself
NAME
The Darvaza gas crater ('Door to Hell')
WHERE
Karakum Desert, Turkmenistan
THE ORIGIN
A collapse during Soviet gas drilling, ~1971
THE SIZE
Roughly 230 feet (70 m) across
THE FIRE
Deliberately lit to burn off methane
STATUS
Still burning 50+ years later
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DISCUSS
What do you think?
When is a 'temporary' fix actually a permanent decision in disguise?
Should they put it out now — or is it worth keeping?
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